Spokesman Review "In Life"

“Mad for Moki”

By Isamu Jordan

Coulee City mom gives children’s writing a try and lands a nationwide deal with Nordstrom.

On a farm in the middle of nowhere Prince Parker, the dog, hops on the sax and a cool cat called Phoebe plays the flute. A little girl dressed in a purple robe and pink boa sings the blues. Her name is Unique Monique, but you can call her “Moki.” Welcome to Mokiville. Here, Moki’s flamboyant imagination and flair for all things French rule supreme. This is the setting for Corinne Isaak’s children’s book, “Unique Monique ~ MokiTime.” What’s as unique as the main character is the way the book came to be. Isaak is a stay-at-home mom of three who lives on a farm in the small town of Coulee City. She had a dream about a year ago to write and self-publish a children’s book with small-town simplicity and big-city sophistication based on the world of her middle daughter, Monique. “The first lines to a poem started coming to me in the middle of the night, I don’t know what hit me,” Isaak said. “I wrote this while I was loading the dishwasher and folding laundry in my pajamas.” Writing it was a stroke of serendipity. The real trick would be getting the book out to the public. Isaak, who describes herself as a Nordstrom girl, took her idea to the powers-that-be at the corporate office or the upscale “I worked at Nordstrom as a teenager, and I knew if they would take it, then it was good,” said Isaak, 31. After a successful test run in the Spokane store, Nordstrom decided this fall to carry “unique Monique” in its children’s departments nationwide. Isaak will sign copies of her book at Nordstrom and Auntie’s Bookstore today. The book sells for $16.95, and a 14 track compact disc is $14.95. Already Isaak has toured with the book on the East Coast and plans to hit Southern California in the near future.

Though “Unique Monique” was Isaak’s dream, it became reality with the help of her neighbors and friends. She enlisted her housekeeper and master seamstress, Karen Cooper, to design costumes and help her write the story. Don Nutt, a house painter and artist, illustrated the book. A couple of other friends helped edit the book and arranged graphics. “I wanted to reflect the spirit of small-town living. That’s why almost every person recruited to work on the book is from our town,” said Isaak, who grew up in Seattle.

The only out-of-towners who helped were an editor in Hawaii and Cooper’s relatives in Nashville. Who recorded music for the compact disc that accompanies the book. Cooper has cleaned house for Isaak for about a decade. She quit a couple of months ago so that she had more time to work on “Unique Monique,” which has become a shared dream of the two friends. “From the moment we started, I could see this going in all sorts of directions,” said Cooper, who made matching robes and boas for herself, Isaak and Isaak’s daughters to wear on tour. “I can see a line of clothes, Moki dishes and Moki shoes.” Cooper has also designed a Moki doll she hopes to see in stores soon. Nutt was a natural choice to illustrate “Unique Monique.” Since he painted the bedroom of Isaak’s 8-year-old daughter, Madeline, in a motif of Ludwig Bemelman’s classic children’s book series. Together the trio created “Unique Monique,” working late at night while the real Monique and her siblings were asleep. The book is watercolored in pinks, purples, greens and Moki’s favorite color, chartreuse.

“Unique Monique” takes the reader through a day in the life of the France –infatuated Moki, who imagines her kitchen a bistro and dines on croissants, pate and café ou lait. “after our family’s ‘Amen,’ we shout Bon Appetit,’” reads a line in the book. It’s a fun story filled with learning tools. There is a clock on ever other page to help you readers learn to tell time, and a glossary in the front of the book explains Moki’s French-inspired vocabulary. Also, kids are encouraged to keep in touch with Moki. They can actually send a letter to Moki’s address ~ 52096 A La Country Boulevard, Box 22, Hartline, WA 99135 ~ and expect a written response. The number in the address is the true Monique’s birthday. Isaak said the postmaster in Hartline made arrangements for letters with the fictitious address to be delivered to her. “It’s a small-enough town. If they see a letter addressed to Moki, they know where to send it,” Isaak said. “Now is the time for Moki to gather some city friends so she can travel from her barn loft to the big city to share her unique story.”

While Moki is the only character whose face is shown in the book, her sister, Marvelous Maddie, makes a couple of cameos with her back to the reader. If there is enough momentum, Isaak wants to write a “Unique Monique” series in which a new character will turn around and face the reader in each installment. Isaak envisions “Marvelous Maddie” next, then a book for boys centered on her 2-year-old son, Maguire. “As the middle child, Monique gets the hand-me-down clothes and the older bike, so this makes it fair that Monique will get the first book,” Isaak, a former English teacher and WSU graduate. So what does 6-year-old Monique Isaak think of being immortalized in a story based on her life? It’s no big deal. She told her mom, “Grammie Victoria has a whole town in Canada named after her, and Nana Ruth has a book in the Bible named after her.” Visit Moki at www.mokitime.com.